Acknowledgement
Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece
Summery: He just wants to be more
Author's Note: Written for ArgentumDraco. Possible out-of-characterness and lots of angst.
Constructive Criticism is always welcomed
Published: 20 March 2008
Rating: T
It was starting to become more than just a little ridiculous. To be honest, it was starting go past being an obsession. But he couldn't stop. He needed that recognition more than he needed anything else, even more than he needed air and food.
He had done everything he could to get those brown eyes to stay on him.
He pulled stupid pranks so he could Iruka to chase after him, focus only on him. He changed into beautiful women to get Iruka to stop thinking about his as a little kid and to show him that he could be anything Iruka wanted. He loudly proclaimed that he wanted to be Hokage so people would acknowledge him, but really, all he wanted was for Iruka to see how strong he had become and how well he would be able to protect his one precious person. He sought to outdo Sasuke because if he could be better than the village's darling, Iruka would have to see how much he had grown. He tried to flirt with Sakura so he could learn how best to be attractive and desirable. He raced headlong into things so he could prove himself—just one more time—to his beloved Iruka.
He still could remember the naked fear he had felt when he when he had seen his hitai-ate lying on the ground under Zabuza. What would Iruka think of him, losing the hitai-ate that Iruka had given him like that? It was his one physical thing that he had the showed Iruka's acknowledgement of his growth and brought him that much closer to Iruka; that muscled idiotic demon was not going to take that from him!
He had been so scared that something had happened to Iruka when Sand and Sound had attacked the village, but he had woken up and Iruka brought him ramen, unscathed. Iruka still treated him like a child, but he glowed in knowing that Iruka had thought he had come a long way.
Even though it killed him, he left Konoha with the Toad Sennin. It was hard, but if it meant that he would come back stronger and a better ninja, he would do it.
He wrote incessantly. Whenever he wasn't training or sleeping, he wrote letters to Iruka. He only mailed about half of them—okay, it was a lot closer to about one-tenth of them—because he even admitted to himself that writing that much was not entirely healthy. It wouldn't get Iruka to notice him in the right way.
He returned and hoped that maybe he had a chance—Iruka kept telling him how much he had grown and he still was single—but then Iruka would ruffle his hair and treat him like a little brother or another family member, not a potential lover.
He wanted to scream, to grab Iruka and shake him, to yell his feelings out and kiss his former sensei senseless. He wanted so badly to be recognised as something more than just a brother; he wanted to Iruka to want to be his precious person as badly as he wanted to be Iruka's.
He stared up at his ceiling. He'd done everything—what was even left for him to do? What did he have to that he hadn't done already to be acknowledged as Iruka's one and only precious person?
x Fin x
